08/04/2010

Ipswich Pequot Soldier List

As part of the great ongoing discussion about the arrival of the Burnham Brothers to Massachusetts, there is a list of Ipswich soldiers who received payment for service during the Pequot War and is dated 5 December 1643. The list can be seen here. I will concede I am no expert in the Native American wars of the 17th century and you can read about the dates of the Pequot War in its wikipedia entry. Basically it was from 1636 to 1638. Since this list does not give the date or duration of service, it is impossible to know how much of the war John or Thomas Burnham took part in. I'm also wondering if a garrison of soldiers was needed even after 1638 to safeguard the Ipswich planters. In any case, we can see that both men were in Ipswich in 1643 and were given land in payment for services rendered as early as 1636. However, there are no intermediary documents for either man. So, when they came over specifically is still a question (ca. 1636-1638) and on which ship is simply never going to be known.

However, I want to examine the other men on the list to see if we can glean some patterns. I wish I could get better sources by going out and researching, but this is what I have at hand.

John Perkins is the John Perkins, Jr. 1609-1684 who arrived with his parents on the Lyon in 1630. See Walter Goodwin Davis, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1996) III:173 and Great Migration Begins III:1431-33.

Robert Roberts in Pope's Pioneers of Massachusetts, p. 387 notes this as his first record. Savage (Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers), claims he was in Boston in 1640.

John Burnham, the question at hand.

Humphrey Gilbert, Pope notes this as his first record.

Robert Filbrick, Savage notes this as his first record.

Thomas Perkins, 1622-1686, brother of John above.

Francis Wainwright, Pope notes this as his first record.

Thomas Harris b. ca. 1618-1687, Pope notes this as his first record. According to Davis, II:170, he came with his father Thomas Harris alias Williams in 1630 in the ship Lyon. Great Migration Begins II:864-66 agrees on the year but not on the ship.

John Layton, Pope notes this as his first record. Savage notes him at Ipswich in 1648 and claims he may have been at Newport, R.I. ten years earlier.

Ralph Dix, Pope notes this as his first record. Savage notes him in Ipswich in 1647.

Daniel Wood, Pope notes this as his first record and that his inventory is taken in 1648.

Thomas Burnam, also the question at hand.

William Miller, Pope notes this as his only record, whereas Savage notes him in Ipswich in 1648 and moving to Northampton.

Jeremy Newland, probable son of Anthony of Salisbury, this family relocates to Taunton. Pope notes this list as his first record.

Richard Hutley, arrived in 1635 on the ship Hopewell. Great Migration 1634-35, III:484-85.

Nathaniel Boswell, can't be readily identified, although an Isaac Buswell lived in Salisbury as early as 1639.

John Wild 1618-aft 1690, arrived in 1635 on the Elizabeth. See Davis III:619 and the Great Migration 1634-35 hasn't gotten there alphabetically yet.

Theophilus Shatswell, arrival unknown, this is his first record. His brother John was in New England by 1633 Great Migration Begins III:1656-57. See also NEHGR 150-180-89.

Henry Green, minister, this is his first record according to Pope, although Savage says his the man who became a freeman in 1641.

That's 20 men, 18 not counting the two Burnhams. Of those 18, six can be proven to have arrived in 1635 or earlier; one cannot be identified, and 11 are known to have arrived by this record [if you don't count guesses by Savage]. So basically twice as many of these men probably arrived in 1636-7 as did those who arrived earlier. So, the odds are that the Burnhams did too. Even then, it only seems the eldest two arrived (perhaps) together, and Robert arrived later.

3 Comments

You conclude: “when [John and Thomas] came over specifically is still a question (ca. 1636-1638) and on which ship is simply never going to be known.” I guess I have to agree that that’s the window, and that the prognosis for narrowing it is not good. [I’ve been imagining a conversation with my long-dead Burnham grandmother, something like “Sorry, grandma, the good old shipwreck story you told me doesn’t stand up; but here’s what we’ve got instead…” This is it, it seems.]

I note that there are 20 men named in the Dec 1643 list as paid “for their service to the Indians” (not sure whether the Indians felt like they had received a service!), and 10 men named in the 1639 list as land grantees for service as “Pequitt Soldiers.” Three are on both lists (John Burnham, Filbrick, Wainwright). 28 total, who served in some capacity in the Pequot War, roughly 1636-38 (or, perhaps, later). Of those 28, only 6 show up on the 1641 list of Ipswich commoners/proprietors. I continue to conclude that absence from the 1641 list doesn’t count as evidence that someone was not there, then.

Some observations about some of the men you cataloged from the 1643 list:

“5. Robert Filbrick, Savage notes this as his first record.”
“7. Francis Wainwright, Pope notes this as his first record.”
How can these be “first records,” since both men are on the list of Ipswich land grantees as “Pequitt Soldiers” in 1639, found earlier in Schofield?

“18. Theophilus Shatswell, arrival unknown, this is his first record. His brother John was in New England by 1633 Great Migration Begins III:1656-57. See also NEHGR 150-180-89.”
The 1641 Commoners list contains “Theophilus Setchell,” presumably an earlier reference to the same man, yes? (John “Satchell” is also listed in 1641.)

“2. Robert Roberts in Pope's Pioneers of Massachusetts, p. 387 notes this as his first record. Savage (Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers), claims he was in Boston in 1640.”
This one is close to home for me, since Robert Roberts of Ipswich is my 7-great grandfather. Is he possibly the “Robert Robert’s” listed as a passenger on the ship Alexander to Barbados, 2 May, 1635?
No idea, but I’d love to know.

Thanks for the time you’ve put into this -- I’m glad you’ve been enjoying this thread, Martin, because I sure as heck have been. I descend from both John and Thomas Burnham, as well as Robert Roberts, William Cogswell, Daniel Wood, and at least 15 of the men on the 1641 list, including Proctor, Dane, Perkins, Kimball, Whipple, Wells, Knowlton, Boreman, Dorman, Warner, and Foster. So almost anything Ipswich, especially something that upsets the “known” body of circulating knowledge, is interesting and fun for me.

One last posting is going up on this. Thanks for the great discussion. We connect on Burnham (I descend from Thomas and Robert) and Perkins. My other Ipswich families include Foster, Story, and Pengry. Ive done posts on the Story and Pengry families as well.